System and method for selection of payment systems from a payment system directory to process a transaction

ABSTRACT

Dynamically enabling and facilitating businesses or other entities to locate and transact with payment systems for the purpose of processing payments. A customer interacts with a supplier of an item (e.g., goods or services), selects an item for purchase, and provides the supplier with payment criteria. The supplier queries a payment system directory to locate candidate payment systems for the transaction. The supplier then interacts directly with one or more of the payment systems to partially or fully process payment for the transaction. Alternatively, the supplier interacts with a gateway service, which queries a payment system directory to locate candidate payment systems and then interacts with one or more of the payment systems to process payment for the transaction.

REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This disclosure is a continuation of, claims priority to and the benefitof U.S. Ser. No. 13/020,579 filed on Feb. 3, 2011, now issued as U.S.Pat. No. 8,090,655, and entitled “SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR SELECTION OFPAYMENT SYSTEMS FROM A PAYMENT SYSTEM DIRECTORY TO PROCESS ATRANSACTION” The '579 disclosure is a continuation of, claims priorityto and the benefit of, U.S. Pat. No. 7,908,215 issued on Mar. 15, 2011(aka U.S. Ser. No. 10/728,279 filed on Dec. 4, 2003) and entitled“SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR SELECTION OF PAYMENT SYSTEMS FROM A PAYMENTSYSTEM DIRECTORY TO PROCESS A TRANSACTION.” The '279 disclosure is acontinuation in part of, claims the benefit of, and priority to, U.S.patent application Ser. No. 10/611,034, entitled “SYSTEM AND METHOD FORA PAYMENT SYSTEM DIRECTORY,” and filed Jun. 30, 2003. All of which areincorporated herein by reference.

FIELD OF INVENTION

The present invention generally relates to use of payment systems toprocess payments and, more particularly, to a system and method toenable entities to dynamically locate and transact with payment systemsto facilitate processing payments.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Currently, a supplier routes payment card transactions through anacquiring bank, with which it has an established business relationship.The acquiring bank then utilizes an established financial network (e.g.,VisaNet, BankNet) to route the transaction to the card issuing bank. Thesupplier does not typically communicate directly with the issuing bank;rather, the established financial networks route transactions to issuingbanks based on BIN range, without consideration of other requestattributes. A need exists for a system which allows entities todynamically locate and transact directly with payment systems tofacilitate processing payments

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention facilitates transacting with payment systems forprocessing payments. The system receives from a user a request for atransaction to purchase goods or services, and payment criteria. Thesystem queries a directory to locate one or more payment systems toprocess the transaction, and it returns an identification of the one ormore located payment systems, if any, to process the transaction.

In another embodiment, the system facilitates transacting with paymentsystems for processing payments using a gateway service. The systemreceives from a user a request for a transaction to purchase an item(e.g., goods or services), and payment criteria for the purchase of theitem. The payment criteria and an identification of the requested itemare provided to a gateway service. Using the gateway service, the systemqueries a directory to locate one or more payment systems to process thetransaction, and it returns, via the gateway service, an identificationof the one or more located payment systems, if any, to process thetransaction.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals representlike elements, are incorporated in and constitute a part of thisspecification and, together with the description, explain the advantagesand principles of the invention. In the drawings,

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating an exemplary system andmethod for dynamically locating and interacting with payment systems toprocess requests for purchase of item;

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of an exemplary system for processingrequests for the purchase of an item;

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of exemplary components of computers usedin the system; and

FIGS. 4 and 5 include flow charts of an exemplary method to dynamicallylocate and interact with payment systems to process requests forpurchase of an item.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Overview

Embodiments consistent with the present invention enable and facilitateindividuals, businesses or other entities to dynamically locate andtransact with payment systems to process payments. The exemplaryembodiments facilitate a single on-line contact point (or reducedcontact points) for suppliers to interact with any number of paymentsystems and to choose one or more payment systems based upon, forexample, information related to a customer requesting a good or servicefrom a supplier. The contact point may include a web site, for example,or any other point of communications. For further information related toconsumer transactions, see U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/704,379,entitled “Systems and Methods for Facilitating Commercial TransactionsBetween Parties Residing at Remote Locations,” filed on Nov. 2, 2000,the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

In general, a customer interacts with a supplier of an item, selects anitem for purchase, and provides the supplier with payment criteria. Theterm payment criteria includes any factors or information relating topayment for goods or services including, for example, the customer'srights through a payment system (including a return policy); when thecustomer is billed for purchases; prices; transaction fees; a currencyexchange rate, a geographic locations of payment systems; a supplieridentity; a user identity; a payment instrument selected by the user; astrength of an authentication method for the user; an amount of thepurchase; a type of item being purchased; a delivery channel for theitem; a supplier risk tolerance; desired payment terms; an availabilityof the payment systems; an optimal price for the item; optimal responseattributes; contractual obligations with respect to transactiondistribution arrangements for the item; specialists that handle specificclasses or types of goods or services; a payment instrument; a paymentcurrency; taxes related to payment of the item; and fees associated withpayment of the item.

The supplier queries a payment system directory to locate candidatepayment systems for the transaction. The supplier then interactsdirectly with one or more of the payment systems to partially or fullyprocess a payment for the transaction. As used herein, a customer orsupplier may include any individual, group, business, entity, software,hardware and/or the like.

In an alternate embodiment, a customer interacts with a supplier of anitem, selects an item for purchase, and provides the supplier withpayment criteria. The supplier interacts with a gateway service topartially or fully process a payment for the transaction. The gatewayservice queries a payment system directory to locate candidate paymentsystems and then interacts with one or more of the payment systems toprocess the payment for the transaction.

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary system 10 for implementingembodiments to dynamically locate and interact with payment systems. Insystem 10, a customer 12 transmits a transaction request with paymentcriteria (22) to a supplier 14 to request purchase of an item. Therequest may include, for example, an identification of the desired item,and information identifying the customer. Supplier 14 is configured toquery (24) a payment system directory 18 to identify (26) appropriatepayment systems to process the transaction. Supplier 14 is configured tothen fully or partially process (28) the transaction by communicatingwith one or more payment systems 16.

Alternatively, supplier 14 transmits (30) the information for therequest to a gateway service 20, which may then query (32) paymentsystem directory 18 to identify (34) payment systems for processing therequest. Once the appropriate payment systems are identified, gatewayservice 20 may communicate (36) with one or more payment systems 16 tofully or partially process the request for the customer.

The payment system directory 18 may determine candidate payment systemsbased on a number of factors. These factors may include attributescontained in the service request such as, for example, supplieridentity, customer identity, payment instrument(s) selected by thecustomer, strength of customer authentication method, transactionamount, type of product being purchased, product delivery channel,supplier risk tolerance, and/or desired payment terms. Other decisionfactors external to the transaction itself may also be considered, suchas, for example, payment system availability and pre-configuredpreferences such as optimal price, optimal response attributes, andcontractual obligations with respect to transaction distributionarrangements, and volumes. In this latter case, where the consumer hasmade contractual volume obligations in return for a discount, thepayment system directory may provide a system and method to track andreport back transaction history. Still other factors include thoserelated to payment criteria, examples of which are provided above.

Because a supplier is unlikely to have an existing business relationshipwith many of the payment systems located by the payment systemdirectory, it may be desirable for the supplier to enter into an“on-the-fly” contract with the payment system to facilitate financialsettlement. The payment system directory may locate more than onecandidate payment system for a transaction, and the supplier may selecta payment system based on terms agreed upon in an on-the-fly contractnegotiation. In some cases, the payment system may request that thesupplier maintain funds in an escrow account to cover potentialchargebacks resulting from customer disputes. A supplier who negotiatesa contract on-the-fly may also opt to designate the agreement as beingin force for all transactions from that date forward, or untiladditional custom rules are defined, or another contract is establishedthrough other channels. In addition, a supplier may elect to processinitial transactions with a payment system without having a contract andthen require a contract after a certain number of transactions.

In the exemplary embodiments, a payment system may specify the forms ofcustomer authentication requested in its terms. If the supplier does notpossess the customer authentication information requested by a specificpayment system, the supplier may need to initiate the desired customerauthentication process. Once the customer has been authenticated, thesupplier continues the transaction with the payment system or gatewayservice. The system may support varied transaction fees based on, forexample, the strength of authentication designated.

Further, the supplier may negotiate the final purchase price or otherterms with the customer based upon the different terms of the candidatepayment systems available for the transaction. The customer may preferto use a particular payment system, for example, even if doing soresults in a slightly higher final purchase price (one example of thiswould be the case where the customer has enrolled in a loyalty programwith the particular processor).

In the exemplary embodiments, the payment instrument used by thecustomer need not be a credit card, and the payment system need not be atraditional bank. For example, the payment system may be the customer'scable company, which has an established relationship with the customerand is capable of absorbing loss. Therefore, payment instruments mayinclude a financial component, a non-financial component, or both.

In another example, the payment system directory may locate aspecialized micro-payments processor that specifically interacts withlow or high value purchases. The micro-payments processor may offerreduced transaction processing costs relative to traditional paymentsystems. Some processors may also be specifically designated to acceptspecific financial instruments, such as a stored value transactiondevice.

The payment system may be managed by, for example, an issuing bank,acquiring bank, third-party processor, payment aggregator, consortiumnetwork, or payment gateway. The payment system directory may allowidentification on a world-wide basis, serving as a single or reducedpoint for submitting all payments requests.

System for Payment Process

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a system which facilitates processingrequests for the purchase of an item in accordance with exemplaryembodiments. A customer computer 40 may interact with a suppliercomputer 44 via a network 42, which may include any type of wireline orwireless network for data communication. Supplier computer 44 maycontact a payment system directory database 54, located either locallyor remotely, to identify payment systems for processing transactions.Once supplier computer 44 has identified payment systems for processinga particular transaction, it may communicate with one or more paymentsystems 48, 50 and 52 via a network 46 to process the transaction for acustomer. Network 46 may include any type of wireline or wirelessnetwork for data communication.

Three payment systems are shown for illustrative purposes only, andother systems may use more or fewer payment systems. The payment systemswhich may be part of certain transactions may represent existingproprietary networks that presently accommodate transactions for creditcards, debit cards, and other types of financial/banking cards.Exemplary transaction networks may include the American Express®,VisaNet® and the Veriphone® networks.

As an alternative, supplier computer 44, via network 46, may transmitinformation for the transaction to a gateway service 56, which may thenprocess the transaction by querying payment system directory database 54and communicating with the appropriate payment systems. The gatewayservice 56 may also be implemented with, for example, a programmedcomputer. The computers shown may communicate with each other via thenetworks using, for example, Internet Protocol addresses or othermethods of locating an entity via a communications network.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of an exemplary computer 60 illustratingtypical components of the computers shown in FIG. 2 for the system.Computer 60 may include a connection with a network 76 as the Internetor communications networks through any suitable network connection.Computer 60 typically includes a memory 62, a secondary storage device70, a processor 72, an input device 66 for entering information intocomputer 60, a display device 68 for providing a visual display ofinformation, and an output device 74 for outputting information such asin hard copy or audio form.

Memory 62 may include random access memory (RAM) or similar types ofmemory, and it may store one or more applications 64 for execution byprocessor 72. Applications 64 may include programming to perform themethods discussed herein such as, for example, dynamically locating andusing payment systems.

Secondary storage device 70 may include any hardware and/or software forstoring data such as, for example, a hard disk drive, floppy disk drive,CD-ROM drive, or other types of non-volatile data storage. Processor 72may execute applications or programs stored in memory 62 or secondarystorage 70, or received from the Internet or other network 76. Althoughcomputer 60 is depicted with various components, one skilled in the artwill appreciate that the computer may contain different components.

Computer 60 may include local or remote databases for storing andretrieving information for processing transactions, including paymentsystem directory database 54. Any databases discussed herein may be anytype of database, such as relational, graphical, hierarchical,object-oriented, and/or the like. Common database products that may beused to implement the databases include DB2 by IBM (White Plains, N.Y.),any of the database products available from Oracle Corporation (RedwoodShores, Calif.), Microsoft Access or MSSQL by Microsoft Corporation(Redmond, Wash.), or any other database product. The database may beorganized in any suitable manner, including as data tables or lookuptables. Association of certain data may be accomplished through any dataassociation technique known and practiced in the art. For example, theassociation may be accomplished either manually or automatically.Automatic association techniques may include, for example, a databasesearch, a database merge, GREP, AGREP, SQL, and/or the like. Theassociation step may be accomplished by a database merge function, forexample, using a “key field” in each of the manufacturer and retailerdata tables. A “key field” partitions the database according to thehigh-level class of objects defined by the key field. For example, acertain class may be designated as a key field in both the first datatable and the second data table, and the two data tables may then bemerged on the basis of the class data in the key field. In thisembodiment, the data corresponding to the key field in each of themerged data tables is preferably the same. However, data tables havingsimilar, though not identical, data in the key fields may also be mergedby using AGREP, for example.

For the sake of brevity, conventional data networking, applicationdevelopment and other functional aspects of the systems (and componentsof the individual operating components of the systems) may not bedescribed in detail herein. Furthermore, the connecting lines shown inthe various figures contained herein are intended to represent exemplaryfunctional relationships and/or physical couplings between the variouselements. It should be noted that many alternative or additionalfunctional relationships or physical connections may be present in apractical electronic transaction system.

The system, as shown in FIG. 2, may include a host server or othercomputing systems including a processor for processing digital data, amemory coupled to said processor for storing digital data, an inputdigitizer coupled to the processor for inputting digital data, anapplication program stored in said memory and accessible by saidprocessor for directing processing of digital data by said processor, adisplay coupled to the processor and memory for displaying informationderived from digital data processed by said processor and a plurality ofdatabases, said databases including client data, merchant data,financial institution data and/or like data that may be used inassociation with the present invention. As those skilled in the art mayappreciate, user computer may typically include an operating system(e.g., Windows NT, 95/98/2000, Linux, Solaris, etc.) as well as variousconventional support software and drivers typically associated withcomputers. User computer may be in a home or business environment withaccess to a network. In an exemplary embodiment, access is through theInternet through a commercially-available web-browser software package.

Communication between the parties to the transaction and the system ofthe present invention may be accomplished through any suitablecommunication means, such as, for example, a telephone network,Intranet, Internet, point of interaction device (point of sale device,personal digital assistant, cellular phone, kiosk, etc.), onlinecommunications, off-line communications, wireless communications,transponder communications and/or the like. One skilled in the art mayalso appreciate that, for security reasons, any databases, systems, orcomponents of the present invention may include any combination ofdatabases or components at a single location or at multiple locations,wherein each database or system includes any of various suitablesecurity features, such as firewalls, access codes, encryption,de-encryption, compression, decompression, and/or the like.

The computers discussed herein may provide a suitable website or otherInternet-based graphical user interface which is accessible by users. Inone embodiment, the Internet Information Server, Microsoft TransactionServer, and Microsoft SQL Server, are used in conjunction with theMicrosoft operating system, Microsoft NT web server software, aMicrosoft SQL database system, and a Microsoft Commerce Server.Additionally, components such as Access or SQL Server, Oracle, Sybase,Informix MySQL, Intervase, etc., may be used to provide an ADO-compliantdatabase management system.

It may be appreciated, that many applications of the present inventionmay be formulated. One skilled in the art may appreciate that thenetwork may include any system for exchanging data or transactingbusiness, such as the Internet, an intranet, an extranet, WAN, LAN,satellite communications, and/or the like. It is noted that the networkmay be implemented as other types of networks, such as an interactivetelevision (ITV) network. The users may interact with the system via anyinput device such as a keyboard, mouse, kiosk, personal digitalassistant, handheld computer (e.g., Palm Pilot®), cellular phone and/orthe like. Similarly, the invention may be used in conjunction with anytype of personal computer, network computer, workstation, minicomputer,mainframe, or the like running any operating system such as any versionof Windows, Windows NT, Windows2000, Windows 98, Windows 95, MacOS,OS/2, BeOS, Linux, UNIX, Solaris or the like. Moreover, although theinvention is frequently described herein as being implemented withTCP/IP communications protocols, it may be readily understood that theinvention may also be implemented using IPX, Appletalk, IP-6, NetBIOS,OSI or any number of existing or future protocols. Moreover, the systemcontemplates the use, sale or distribution of any goods, services orinformation over any network having similar functionality describedherein.

The computing units may be connected with each other via a datacommunication network. The network may be a public network and assumedto be insecure and open to eavesdroppers. In the illustratedimplementation, the network may be embodied as the internet. In thiscontext, the computers may or may not be connected to the internet atall times. For instance, the customer computer may employ a modem tooccasionally connect to the internet, whereas the bank computing centermay maintain a permanent connection to the internet. Specificinformation related to the protocols, standards, and applicationsoftware utilized in connection with the Internet may not be discussedherein. For further information regarding such details, see, forexample, DILIP NAIK, INTERNET STANDARDS AND PROTOCOLS (1998); JAVA 2COMPLETE, various authors, (Sybex 1999); DEBORAH RAY AND ERIC RAY,MASTERING HTML 4.0 (1997). LOSHIN, TCP/IP CLEARLY EXPLAINED (1997). Allof these texts are hereby incorporated by reference.

The systems may be suitably coupled to network via data links. A varietyof conventional communications media and protocols may be used for datalinks. Such as, for example, a connection to an Internet ServiceProvider (ISP) over the local loop as is typically used in connectionwith standard modem communication, cable modem, Dish networks, ISDN,Digital Subscriber Line (DSL), or various wireless communicationmethods. Merchant system may also reside within a local area network(LAN) which interfaces to network via a leased line (T1, D3, etc.). Suchcommunication methods are well known in the art, and are covered in avariety of standard texts. See, e.g., GILBERT HELD, UNDERSTANDING DATACOMMUNICATIONS (1996), hereby incorporated by reference.

Methods for Payment Processing

FIGS. 4 and 5 disclose a flow chart of an exemplary method 80 todynamically locate and interact with payment systems to facilitateprocessing requests for purchase of an item. Method 80 may beimplemented in, for example, software modules for execution by suppliercomputer 44, gateway service 56, and payment systems 48, 50, and 52.Although the steps of method 80 are shown in a particular order, theymay alternatively be executed in other orders and more steps may beadded or steps removed, if necessary or desired.

The present invention may be described herein in terms of functionalblock components, screen shots, optional selections and variousprocessing steps. It should be appreciated that such functional blocksmay be realized by any number of hardware and/or software componentsconfigured to perform the specified functions. For example, the presentinvention may employ various integrated circuit components, e.g., memoryelements, processing elements, logic elements, look-up tables, and thelike, which may carry out a variety of functions under the control ofone or more microprocessors or other control devices. Similarly, thesoftware elements of the present invention may be implemented with anyprogramming or scripting language such as C, C++, Java, COBOL,assembler, PERL, Visual Basic, SQL Stored Procedures, extensible markuplanguage (XML), with the various algorithms being implemented with anycombination of data structures, objects, processes, routines or otherprogramming elements. Further, it should be noted that the presentinvention may employ any number of conventional techniques for datatransmission, signaling, data processing, network control, and the like.For a basic introduction of cryptography and network security, thefollowing may be helpful references: (1) “Applied Cryptography:Protocols, Algorithms, And Source Code In C,” by Bruce Schneier,published by John Wiley & Sons (second edition, 1996); (2) “JavaCryptography” by Jonathan Knudson, published by O'Reilly & Associates(1998); (3) “Cryptography & Network Security: Principles & Practice” byWilliam Stalling, published by Prentice Hall; all of which are herebyincorporated by reference.

As may be appreciated by one of ordinary skill in the art, the presentinvention may be embodied as a method, a data processing system, adevice for data processing, and/or a computer program product.Accordingly, the present invention may take the form of an entirelysoftware embodiment, an entirely hardware embodiment, or an embodimentcombining aspects of both software and hardware. Furthermore, thepresent invention may take the form of a computer program product on acomputer-readable storage medium having computer-readable program codemeans embodied in the storage medium. Any suitable computer-readablestorage medium may be utilized, including hard disks, CD-ROM, opticalstorage devices, magnetic storage devices, and/or the like.

The present invention is described herein with reference to screenshots, block diagrams and flowchart illustrations of methods, apparatus(e.g., systems), and computer program products according to variousaspects of the invention. It may be understood that each functionalblock of the block diagrams and the flowchart illustrations, andcombinations of functional blocks in the block diagrams and flowchartillustrations, respectively, may be implemented by computer programinstructions. These computer program instructions may be loaded onto ageneral purpose computer, special purpose computer, or otherprogrammable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such thatthe instructions which execute on the computer or other programmabledata processing apparatus create means for implementing the functionsspecified in the flowchart block or blocks.

These computer program instructions may also be stored in acomputer-readable memory that may direct a computer or otherprogrammable data processing apparatus to function in a particularmanner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readablememory produce an article of manufacture including instruction meanswhich implement the function specified in the flowchart block or blocks.The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer orother programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series ofoperational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmableapparatus to produce a computer-implemented process such that theinstructions which execute on the computer or other programmableapparatus provide steps for implementing the functions specified in theflowchart block or blocks.

Accordingly, functional blocks of the block diagrams and flowchartillustrations support combinations of means for performing the specifiedfunctions, combinations of steps for performing the specified functions,and program instruction means for performing the specified functions. Itmay also be understood that each functional block of the block diagramsand flowchart illustrations, and combinations of functional blocks inthe block diagrams and flowchart illustrations, may be implemented byeither special purpose hardware-based computer systems which perform thespecified functions or steps, or suitable combinations of specialpurpose hardware and computer instructions.

In method 80, supplier computer 44 via network 42 receives a requestfrom a customer, at customer computer 40, to purchase an item along withpayment criteria (step 82). The request can potentially include userpreferences for use in locating one or more payment systems to processthe request. Also, the request may be in any particular format fornetwork transmission and sent according to any suitable protocol. Therequest may be sent, for example, via a web page, or other on-line ornetwork communication.

The request may be received from a user or other person, for example, atthe requesting entity. As used herein, the term “end user”, “consumer”,“customer”, “supplier”, “cardmember”, “business” or “merchant” may beused interchangeably with each other, and each shall mean any person,entity, machine, hardware, software or business. The card issuinginstitutions may include credit card companies, card sponsoringcompanies, or third party issuers under contract with financialinstitutions. It is further noted that other participants may beinvolved in some phases of the transaction, such as an intermediarysettlement institution, but these participants are not shown.

The request for a transaction may optionally include an account number.An “account number”, as used herein, may include any device, code,number, letter, symbol, digital certificate, smart chip, digital signal,analog signal, biometric or other identifier/indicia suitably configuredto allow the consumer to interact or communicate with the system, suchas, for example, authorization/access code, personal identificationnumber (PIN), Internet code, a bank routing and account number, otheridentification code, and/or the like which is optionally located on arewards card, charge card, credit card, debit card, prepaid card,telephone card, smart card, magnetic stripe card, bar code card,transponder, radio frequency card and/or the like. The account numbermay be distributed and stored in any form of plastic, electronic,magnetic, radio frequency, wireless, audio and/or optical device capableof transmitting or downloading data from itself to a second device. Acustomer account number may be, for example, a sixteen-digit credit cardnumber, although each credit provider has its own numbering system, suchas the fifteen-digit numbering system used by American Express. Eachcompany's credit card numbers comply with that company's standardizedformat such that the company using a sixteen-digit format may generallyuse four spaced sets of numbers, as represented by the number “0000 00000000 0000”. The first five to seven digits are reserved for processingpurposes and identify the issuing bank, card type and etc. In thisexample, the last sixteenth digit is used as a sum check for thesixteen-digit number. The intermediary eight-to-ten digits are used touniquely identify the customer.

Supplier computer 44 may authenticate the user's identity mayauthenticate the user's identity at various points in the processing ofmethod 80 or as part of the payment criteria. The authentication mayuse, for example, any particular authentication methods, to help preventfraudulent transactions.

Supplier computer 44 may determine whether to use gateway service 56(step 90) and, if so, it may transmit information related to the requestto gateway service 56 (step 92). An advantage of using the gatewayservice includes, for example, not necessarily requiring that thesupplier know the locations and protocols of all the payment systems.With the gateway service, therefore, a supplier may have access to morepayment systems. Supplier computer 44, or gateway service 56, thenqueries payment system directory database 54 to locate one or morepayment systems suitable for processing the transaction (step 94), andreturns a list identifying zero or more located payment systems suitablefor processing the transaction (step 95). The payment systems canpotentially be identified by routing information so that the system caninteract with them via a network. The system can permit a user todecline one or more of the identified payment systems presented to theuser in the list (step 91). Also, the system can optionally includeratings indicating how closely each of the payment systems match thecriteria (step 93).

The determination of locating the payment systems may be based upon anumber of factors such as those described above. In particular, suppliercomputer 44, or gateway service 56, can determine which payment systemsmatch the payment criteria using, for example, business rules, qualityof service criteria, or fuzzy logic technology. The payment criteria canbe expressed as, for example, codes or other identifiers, and thepayment systems can be identified by name, network location, and variousattributes relating to how they process payments. In addition, thepayment criteria can use weighted factors to emphasize or de-emphasizeeach individual factor.

Supplier computer 44, or gateway service 56, interacts with theidentified payment system(s) to process the transaction (step 96). Itcan select payment systems by generating, for example, a score forvarious payment systems indicating for each one how closely it matchesthe payment criteria. If two or more payment systems have the samescore, the system may apply additional criteria or present options tothe customer in order to make a final selection of payment systems.

The processing may optionally include negotiating fees for thetransaction. If this feature is used (step 97), supplier computer 44,and/or gateway service 56, may interact with the payment systems tonegotiate fees for the transactions (step 99). The negotiation for feescan be based upon any factors or payment criteria. The processing mayalso optionally include negotiating a final price for the requesteditem. If this feature is used (step 98), supplier computer 44, and/orgateway service 56, may interact with the payment systems to determine afinal price for the requested goods or service (step 100). This pricenegotiation feature may be used, for example, if the requesting customerdesires to attempt to obtain a lower price, or if the requested items donot have a set price.

The processing may also optionally include negotiating a contract forthe requested items. If this feature is used (step 102), suppliercomputer 44, and/or gateway service 56, may interact with the paymentsystems to generate an on-the-fly contract for purchase of the requestedgoods or service (step 104). This contract negotiation feature may beused, for example, if the supplier does not have an establishedrelationship with a particular payment system and a contract isnecessary to use it. Also, in some instances the customer already has acontract with a supplier, or can be supplied with a contract, to useparticular types of on-line payment systems such as, for example, thePayPal system (www.paypal.com). The supplier or gateway service may usethat arrangement as one of the payment criteria in attempting to selecta payment system with whom the customer already has a relationship orcontract. It can also be used to negotiate a final price by offeringdifferent prices based upon whether the customer is willing to enterinto contracts relating to use of particular payment systems.

Supplier computer 44, or gateway service 56, processes payment for therequested item based upon the payment criteria and price, using apayment instrument (step 106). The payment instruments may include afinancial component, a non-financial component, or both. The paymentprocessing occurs through the located payment systems and may include,for example, conventional systems and financial networks to obtainpayment from the customer.

The system may notify the customer that the transaction is complete onceprocessing is finished or any other status update during the process,and arrange for delivery of the purchased item to the customer (step108). The supplier may notify the customer. Alternatively, thenotification may be sent from a merchant providing the item to thecustomer, and such notification can be provided by, for example, ane-mail, letter, or phone call.

Benefits, other advantages, and solutions to problems have beendescribed herein with regard to specific embodiments. However, thebenefits, advantages, solutions to problems, and any element(s) that maycause any benefit, advantage, or solution to occur or become morepronounced are not to be construed as critical, required, or essentialfeatures or elements of any or all the claims or the invention. As usedherein, the terms “comprises”, “comprising”, or any other variationthereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that aprocess, method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elementsdoes not include only those elements but may include other elements notexpressly listed or inherent to such process, method, article, orapparatus. Further, no element described herein is required for thepractice of the invention unless expressly described as “essential” or“critical”.

The detailed description of exemplary embodiments of the inventionherein makes reference to the accompanying drawings, which show theexemplary embodiment by way of illustration and its best mode. Whilethese exemplary embodiments are described in sufficient detail to enablethose skilled in the art to practice the invention, it should beunderstood that other embodiments may be realized and that logical andmechanical changes may be made without departing from the spirit andscope of the invention. Thus, the detailed description herein ispresented for purposes of illustration only and not of limitation. Forexample, the steps recited in any of the method or process descriptionsmay be executed in any order and are not limited to the order presented.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A method, comprising: receiving, by acomputer-based system, a request to process a transaction associatedwith an account accessed using an access identification, the requestcomprising payment criteria; querying, by the computer-based system, adirectory of payment systems to locate payment systems to process thetransaction based at least in part upon the payment criteria; receiving,by the computer-based system, an identification of each of the locatedpayment systems based at least in part upon a strength of anauthentication method used by each of the located payment systems toauthenticate the access identification; debiting, by the computer-basedsystem, funds from a first financial account associated with at leastone of the located payment systems in response to selection of theidentification of the at least one of the located payment systems toprocess the transaction; and crediting, by the computer-based system, atleast a portion of the funds to an escrow account.
 2. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the funds debited from the first financial accountremain in the escrow account for a predefined period of time.
 3. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the funds debited from the first financialaccount remain in the escrow account for a predefined period of time;and wherein the predefined period of time is based upon an escrowrelease event.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the funds debited fromthe first financial account remain in the escrow account for apredefined period of time; wherein the predefined period of time isbased upon an escrow release event; and wherein the escrow release eventincludes receipt of items by a purchaser of the items or lapse of anevaluation period for approval of the items.
 5. The method of claim 1,wherein the funds debited from the first financial account remain in theescrow account for a predefined period of time; and wherein thepredefined period of time is based upon an escrow release event or anacceptance of items.
 6. The method of claim 1, further comprisingrequesting, by the computer-based system, a supplier fund the escrowaccount.
 7. The method of claim 6, wherein a supplier funds the escrowaccount for use in the transaction.
 8. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising receiving, by the computer-based system, an indication of aselection of at least one of the located payment systems.
 9. The methodof claim 8, further comprising receiving, by the computer-based system,an indication of a selection of payment system terms.
 10. The method ofclaim 9, further comprising negotiating, by the computer-based system, asupplier final price based on the indication of the selection of atleast one of the located payment systems or based on the indication ofthe selection of the payment system terms.
 11. The method of claim 1,wherein a supplier selects at least one of the located payment systemsand payment system terms.
 12. The method of claim 1, wherein at leastone of the located payment systems is an acquiring bank.
 13. The methodof claim 1, further comprising transmitting, by the computer-basedsystem, a notification that the transaction is complete.
 14. The methodof claim 1, further comprising generating, by the computer-based system,a score for each located payment system indicating how closely thelocated payment system matches the payment criteria.
 15. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the located payment systems comprises a supplier. 16.The method of claim 1, wherein a financial component is issued by thelocated payment system; and wherein the financial component is a storedvalue card.
 17. The method of claim 1, further comprising triggering, bythe computer-based system, a supplier to enter into a contract with atleast one of the located payment systems to process the transaction. 18.A system comprising: a memory device to store instructions; and aprocessing device to execute the instructions stored in the memorydevice to perform operations comprising: receiving a request to processa transaction associated with an account accessed using an accessidentification; querying a directory of payment systems to locatepayment systems to process the transaction based at least in part uponpayment criteria; receiving an identification of each of the locatedpayment systems based at least in part upon a strength of anauthentication method used by each of the located payment systems toauthenticate the access identification; debiting funds from a firstfinancial account associated with at least one of the located paymentsystems in response to selection of the identification of the at leastone of the located payment systems to process the transaction; andcrediting at least a portion of the funds to an escrow account.
 19. Anarticle of manufacture including a non-transitory, tangible computerreadable medium having instructions stored thereon that, in response toexecution by a computer-based system for processing a transaction, causethe computer-based system to perform operations comprising: receiving arequest to process the transaction associated with an account accessedusing an access identification; querying a directory of payment systemsto locate payment systems to process the transaction based at least inpart upon the payment criteria; receiving an identification of each ofthe located payment systems based at least in part upon a strength of anauthentication method used by each of the located payment systems toauthenticate the access identification; debiting funds from a firstfinancial account associated with at least one of the located paymentsystems in response to selection of the identification of the at leastone of the located payment systems to process the transaction; andcrediting at least a portion of the funds to an escrow account.